Car seal



Sept.. 3o 1924. 1,509,925

C. R. BOSTWICK CAR SEAL Fi'le April 1.. 1921 DESTINATION Patented Sept. 30, 1924i'.

UNITED srar ra "t f can snail.

Application filed April l, 1.921.. Serial No. 457,790.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Camus R. Bosrwrcir, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mariposa, in the county of Chenango and State of NeivYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car Seals, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawing, forming a part of the same.

This invention relates to car seals, and has for an object to provide a ydevice for sealing the doors of freight cars which shall also serve as a tag showing the points of origin and destination and the date of shipment.

it has been customary to seal the doors of freight cars by passing a wire through the staple on the door after the hasp has been placed over the. staple, and then secnrii'ig the ends of the wire-together by means of a small metal seal. Such 4sealing means provides no means for carrying data as to the shipment of the car.

ln accordance with myinvention the device by which the door of the car sealed is provided with a tag portion upon which are permanently marked letters and figures for indicating the date of shipment, the point or origin, destination, etc. The tag portion is an integral part of the sealing device, so that the car is tagged at the saine time that it is sealed.

ln order that my invention may clearly be understood, I will describe in detail the specific embodiment of it shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the sealing device before use;

Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 indicating the position of the tabs and sealing piece after sealing.

The sealing device comprises a tag plate which is most desirably circular in form. From this plate extend two tabs 11 and 12. The plate 10 contains an aperture 13 which is most desirably circular in shape and set off from the center of the plate 10 toward the tabs 11 and 12. The cut 141 which sep arates thel tabs 11 and 12 opens into the aperture 13.

The plate 10 and tabs 11 and 12 are made from a single piece of fiexible sheet metal. On the tag plate 10 there is permanently marked, as by stamping or cutting or in other suitable manner, a series of figures, 1

to 31, and the abbreviations for the twelve months. rllhere is also marked on the plate the name of the starting point or place of origin of the shipment and its destination, fi" and, if desired, the. name of the railroad. rl`he places of origin and destination may be impressed or otherwise marked on the plate at the time of use, or the plates may be so marked in quantity beforehand, or the plates for use any particular place of shipment may be marked with the name of such place and have thel destination marked thereon as used.

Near the outer end of one of the tabs is a sealing piece which may beV composed of lead or other suitable metal. The sealing piece 15 is U-shaped in cross-seotion as shown in Fig. 2 and is most desir-ably attached to the tab by soldering or f otherwise, in order to prevent its loss. It is, however, not essential that the sealing piece 15 loe attached to one of the talos beforehand.

in using the sealing device shown in the drawings, the place, of origin and destination are first marked upon the tag plate 10 unlessalready thereon. The date of shipment is then indicated by punching out 0f the plate 10 the month and the number indicating the day of the month upon which the shipment takes place. The tabs 11 and 12 are then spread apart and the device is slipped over the staple on the car door after the hasp has been closed, so that the eo staple passes through the aperture 13. The tabs 11 and 12 are then overlapped and the end of the tab 11 is brought over the end of the tab 12 within the sealing piece 15. The sealing is effected by applying a 95 heavy pressure to the opposite sides of the sealing piece 15, so that it is forced against the ends of the tabs 11 and 12, as shown in Fig. 3. The car door is thus effectively sealed and at the same time a tag is sealed 10U to it. rl`his tag remains on the car until the car is opened at its destination. It serves to indicate the proper destination of the car, so that the car does not become lost en route. Furthermore, it serves to indicate to 105 the consignes the date of shipment as well as the point of origin of the shipment.

l/Vhen the car is opened the sealing piece 15 is pried or broken apart so that the tab 11 may be Withdrawn from the tab 12 and 110 the tabs spread apart so as to permit the removal of the device from the staple. The tag may be punched to indicate the date, that is, the month and day, of arrival, a punch ot dierent shape from that by which the day of shipment was indicated being desirably used. The tag plate may be filed away as a permanent record of the shipment.

My invention is by no means limited t0 the eXact form and arrangement of parts shown in the drawings. Among the modilicationsvwhich may be made are changes in the shape ot the tag plate 10 and the shape and position of the aperture 13. Furthermore, means other than the sealingr piece 15A may be used for sealing together the endsof the tabs 11 and 12.

What is claimed is:

l. A tag for the doors of freight cars, comprising ay tag plate having van aperture therein, andV two closely spaced tabs extendingv from adjacent portions of the periphery of said plate, th-e opening between the tabs extending to the aperture in the plate, the tag being made oit a single piece of sheet metal of suflicient flexibility to? permit overlapping of the outer ends ot the tabs so that they may be sealed together, and means for securing the outer ends ot the tags together when overlapped.

A tag `tor the doors ot freight cars, comprising a circular tag plate having an eccentrically placed aperture therein. and

two closely spaced tabs extending` outwardly cars7 comprising a tag plate having permav nently marked upon it a series ot abbreviations and numbers by means ol which a date may be indicated by punching, said tag plate having an aperture therein and an opening extending outwardly trom said aperture to the periphery of' said tag plate` and closely spaced tabs extending from the portions ot the periphery of said tag plate adjacent to said opening at opposite sides thereof, the tag being made ot a piece ot sheet metal ol sufficient flexibility to permit the outer ends ot the tabs to be overlapped so that they may be sealed togetherv In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CYRUS R. BOSTWICK.

litnesses A. JAREGKY, A. L. KENT. 

